1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus utilizing a solid semiconductor element, and an particular, to the ink jet recording apparatus capable of gathering information on a position of recording means and ink inside an ink tank by having the solid semiconductor element built in an ink jet head (recording means) or an ink tank.
2. Related Background Art
Conventionally, in an ink jet recording apparatus wherein images are printed on paper as dot patterns by moving a carriage equipped with an ink jet recording head in a direction of printing while discharging ink from a plurality of discharge nozzles provided on the ink jet recording head (hereafter, also merely referred to as a recording head), an ink tank accommodating ink for recording is provided so as to supply the ink of the ink tank to the recording head via an ink supply route.
As for the ink jet recording apparatus, one of the major factors for producing high-precision and high-quality records is to keep accurate a relative positional relation between a discharge position of the ink and a record medium (recording paper or the like). At its designing, the relative relationship between the carriage and its carrying mechanism and the record medium""s supporting and carrying mechanisms is precisely set, and based on that precondition, timing of carriage movement and ink discharge for acquiring a desired record image is determined and the records are produced. There are cases, however, where the discharge position of the ink somewhat goes wrong due to an error in manufacturing or assembly, wear over time, mechanical deterioration and so on. In that case, it becomes difficult to make ink droplets adhere to the record medium at a desired position or a shape and a size of the ink adhering to the record medium change so that quality of the formed images deteriorates.
Therefore, the ink jet recording apparatus for which a mechanism for detecting a position of the carriage equipped with the recording head is provided is used. This detects the position of the carriage by using a linear encoder and so on as appropriate.
In addition, as for the ink jet recording apparatus, another major factor for producing high-precision and high-quality records is that a state such as a type, a residual amount, ingredients or condition of the ink inside the ink tank is grasped at a correct time. For instance, as to the residual amount of the ink inside the ink tank that is one item of the state to be grasped, various ink residual amount detecting apparatuses are proposed.
For instance, according to the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-143607, two (a pair of) electrodes 702 are placed on an inner surface on the bottom side of an ink tank 701 filled with nonconductive ink as shown in FIG. 1, and a floating object 703 on which an electrode 704 is placed in an opposite position to the electrodes 702 is floating in the ink inside the ink tank 701. It is disclosed that the two electrodes 702 are connected to a detecting portion (unillustrated) for detecting a conduction state of both electrodes respectively, and if it detects their conduction state, it issues an ink residual amount error indicating that there is no ink in the ink tank 701 and stops operation of an ink jet recording head 705.
In addition, the Japanese Patent No. 2947245 discloses an ink cartridge 805 for an ink jet printer as shown in FIG. 2, which has a configuration wherein its lower part is formed toward its bottom in a state of a funnel, two electric conductors 801 and 802 are provided on the bottom and a metal ball 804 of smaller specific gravity than ink 803 is placed inside. In such a configuration, a fluid level of the ink 803 lowers as the ink 803 is consumed and reduced. The position of the metal ball 804 floating on the surface of the ink 803 lowers in conjunction with it. If the fluid level of the ink 803 lowers to the position of the bottom of the ink cartridge housing, the metal ball 804 contacts the two electric conductors 801 and 802. And then, the electric conductors 801 and 802 are brought into conduction so that a current passes between them. It is possible to detect an ink end state by detecting that current. If the ink end state is detected, information indicating the ink end state is given to a user.
The above described carriage position detecting mechanism of the conventional ink jet recording apparatus basically performs only one-dimensional position detection in a movement direction of the carriage, and so it is not possible to know space between an ink discharge port and the record medium and so on. In addition, as the linear encoder is expensive, the cost of the ink jet recording apparatus itself increases.
Moreover, it is necessary, in a configuration wherein the ink residual amount inside the ink tank is detected, to place the electrodes for detection inside the ink tank. Furthermore, as the ink residual amount is detected from the conduction state of the electrodes, there are constraints to the ink to be used, such as no use of metal ion as the ink ingredient.
In addition, the above configuration only allows the ink residual amount to be detected, and other in-tank information cannot be known to the outside. For instance, information on pressure in the ink tank, change in physical properties of the ink and so on are important parameters for constantly operating the ink jet head with a stable discharge amount, and thus a tank capable of informing in real time an external ink jet recording apparatus of in-tank pressure incessantly changing in conjunction with in-tank ink consumption and transmitting change in physical properties of the ink to the outside is desired.
Furthermore, an ink tank capable of two-way exchange of information, that is, not only one-sidedly transmitting information detected inside the ink tank to the outside but also responding to inquiries from the outside with internal information is desired.
Here, the inventors focused attention on a ball semiconductor (solid semiconductor element) of BALL Semiconductor, Inc., which is a 1-millimeter silicon ball on which spherical surface a semiconductor integrated circuit is formed. As this solid semiconductor element is spherical, it is expected that, by accommodating it in the recording head or the ink tank mounted on the ink jet recording apparatus, detection of environmental information and two-way exchange of information with the outside can be implemented very efficiently compared with a plane figure.
The present applicant has proposed in the Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-114228 a solid semiconductor element suitable for gathering ink information, and an ink jet recording apparatus equipped with an ink tank having this semiconductor element built-in. The solid semiconductor element has information acquiring means for acquiring environmental information surrounding the element, and discriminating means for reading from information storing means information to refer the acquired information to and comparing the read stored information with the acquired information so as to determine necessity of transmitting the information. And in the case of determining that it is necessary to transmit the information, the discriminating means causes the acquired information to be transmitted to the outside by information communicating means. While this solid semiconductor element has the information acquiring means, the information communicating means and so on, it should be possible to provide it with various other functions, and so it is desired that this solid semiconductor element will be exploited in a wider variety of manners in order to contribute to quality improvement of ink jet recording.
It is possible, by placing at least one piece of such a solid semiconductor element in the recording head or the ink tank, to transmit position information on the recording head, information on the ink accommodated in the ink tank, in-tank pressure and so on to the external apparatus in real time so as to reflect them on ink jet recording operation.
In the case of placing such a solid semiconductor element in the ink tank in order to gather the information in the ink tank, it requires power for driving that solid semiconductor element, where the solid semiconductor element is floating in the ink tank and so energy must be transferred in a non-contact manner. Thus, means for supplying energy to the solid semiconductor element in a non-contact manner is sought.
Furthermore, as there is a possibility that conductive ink may be accommodated in the ink tank, if an attempt to supply energy to the solid semiconductor element in or via the ink by using an electromagnetic wave is made, the semiconductor element may be put in a shielded state due to the conductive ink or the electromagnetic wave may be disrupted by reflection so that desired energy may not be supplied in a stable manner.
Moreover, while the ink tank makes scan movement with the entire carriage during printing operation in the case of a configuration wherein the ink tank is mounted on the carriage together with the recording head, it is desirable to supply energy even during printing in order to maintain stable energy. In particular, it is desirable to have a configuration wherein kinetic energy during printing operation is exploited for driving the solid semiconductor element. On the other hand, in order to transmit the information in the ink tank in a non-contact manner, it is necessary, when a printing apparatus is not in operation, to prevent a malfunction so as not to transmit any information.
An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording method, an ink jet recording head and an ink jet recording apparatus wherein a solid semiconductor element is utilized for detecting a recording head position to contribute to printing quality improvement by detecting the recording head position as appropriate, and the solid semiconductor element is utilized more effectively to be multifunction without making the configuration too complicated.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus having a configuration wherein the solid semiconductor element is placed in the ink tank and capable of transferring energy to this semiconductor element in a stable manner without contacting it, and further to provide an ink jet recording apparatus wherein, when the ink tank makes scan movement during printing operation, the kinetic energy is exploited to supply energy to the semiconductor element in a stable manner even during printing operation and besides, a malfunction is prevented when a printing apparatus is not in operation.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an ink information gathering method capable of gathering information on the ink of the ink jet recording apparatus as appropriate.
The present invention is characterized by configuration wherein the solid semiconductor element is placed in a component (the recording head or the ink tank) mounted on the carriage, and also communication means or energy supply means are fixedly placed in a scanning range of the carriage.
In addition, the present invention is characterized by, in the ink jet recording method in which recording is carried out by ejecting ink from recording means in the ink jet recording head while moving the carriage having the ink jet recording head is mounted thereon, transmitting an electric wave from fixed communication means to the solid semiconductor element fixed on the ink jet recording head, the semiconductor element receiving the electric wave and detecting a position of the recording means based thereon and controlling timing of ink discharge according to it.
The present invention allows an ink discharge position in the ink jet recording apparatus to be detected three-dimensionally, which can be used for controlling the ink discharge so as to render the records high-precision and high-quality. In particular, it allows the position to be detected not only one-dimensionally but also three-dimensionally in the carriage movement direction and thus it is highly effective in terms of improvement in printing quality since the space between the record medium and the discharge position can also be known.
Use of the solid semiconductor element makes it no longer necessary to install a linear encoder and so on on the recording apparatus body, and thus increases a degree of freedom of designing the ink jet recording apparatus, such as making carriage speed changeable. In addition, it does not require expensive components such as the linear encoder, and also allows the solid semiconductor element used for another purpose to additionally have a function of detecting a position, so that it can render the product further multifunction and low-cost by sharing components.
To be more specific, the solid semiconductor element can seek the ink discharge position of the recording means and correct timing of the ink discharge in order to set off a deviation of the detected discharge position from the desired discharge position. It is also possible to correct the timing of the ink discharge by having the solid semiconductor element transmit a discharge timing control signal for controlling the ink discharge to the recording means.
While the solid semiconductor element can receive, identify and analyze the electric wave to acquire a communication distance thereof, it is desirable that the semiconductor element should acquire the communication distance based on a deviation of the electric wave phase, acquire the position of the semiconductor element from the communication distance, and detect the discharge position of the recording means based on the position thereof.
As radiation is expanded to be wider than laser and the like by using the electric wave, it is not necessary to transmit it while chasing the moving carriage. In addition, as the solid semiconductor element can render inductance small, it is suitable for communication by the electric wave.
It is desirable that at least three of the above described fixed communication means should transmit the electric wave to the above described solid semiconductor element. In that case, it is desirable that each of the fixed communication means should transmit the electric wave of which frequency, amplitude or signal pattern is different.
By doing so, the position is detected by a trilateration method.
Furthermore, the present invention is that, in the ink jet recording apparatus having the recording head, the ink tank for accommodating the ink to be supplied to the recording head, and the moving carriage on which the recording head and the ink tank are mounted, the solid semiconductor element having an inductor is accommodated in the ink tank, and standstill electromotive force supply means for providing electrical energy to the standstill solid semiconductor element in a non-contact manner is placed at a specific position in the movement range of the carriage.
Thus, it is efficient since the electromotive force can be provided to the solid semiconductor element when the carriage stops, that is, when no printing is performed. In addition, it is not necessary to provide electrical wiring in the ink tank.
It is desirable that the specific position where the standstill electromotive force supply means is provided should be a home position. The home position is a position where the carriage stands by so that there is no damage to the recording head, the ink and so on when the ink jet recording apparatus is energized on and when no printing is performed and where the carriage certainly visits between completion of printing and start of printing of a magnetic field, so that there is little possibility that the electromotive force supply to the solid semiconductor element is delayed.
If the standstill electromotive force supply means includes an electromagnetic apparatus, it is easy to generate a changing magnetic flux around the solid semiconductor element.
In addition, it is also feasible, in the movement range of the carriage, to provide movement time electromotive force supply means for supplying electrical energy to the solid semiconductor element running on a carrier path in a non-contact manner.
According to this, it is possible to supply electromotive force to the solid semiconductor element even during movement of the carriage such as during printing operation, and to prevent shortage of electrical energy for operating the semiconductor element during printing. In addition, kinetic energy of the carriage can be effectively utilized in order to supply the electromotive force.
The movement time electromotive force supply means can include a plurality of electromagnetic apparatuses. Alternatively, the movement time electromotive force supply means can include a plurality of permanent magnets. This is because the movement time electromotive force supply means utilizes the carriage movement and does not need to change the magnetic flux.
It is desirable that the solid semiconductor element should at least partially contact the above described ink accommodated in the above ink tank, and be hollow-structured and floating in the above described ink accommodated in the above ink tank so that the above described inductor constantly faces a fixed direction. By doing so, the electromotive force can be certainly generated by utilizing electromagnetic induction.
It is desirable that electricity accumulating means should be mounted on the solid semiconductor element, since the supplied electromotive force or electric power that is converted from this electromotive force can be accumulated for subsequent operation of the semiconductor element.
It is also possible to have communication means for sending a signal to the solid semiconductor element, and the semiconductor element may have a function of transmitting whether or not there is sufficient electrical energy for driving the semiconductor element in response to a request from the communication means.
In addition, it may have the communication means for sending a signal to the solid semiconductor element, and the semiconductor element may have a function of detecting and transmitting at least one of the amount, type, ingredients and state of the ink in the ink tank in response to a request from the communication means.
Moreover, the xe2x80x9cmeta centerxe2x80x9d in this specification indicates a point of intersection of a line of action of weight in a balanced state and a line of action of buoyancy when inclined.
In addition, xe2x80x9csolidxe2x80x9d of the xe2x80x9csolid semiconductor elementxe2x80x9d herein includes all of various cubic shapes such as a triangle pole, a sphere, a hemisphere, a square pole, an ellipsoid of revolution and a uniaxial spinning body.
Furthermore, the present invention is characterized by having energy converting means for converting energy from the outside into a different type of energy and also having in the ink tank light-emitting means for emitting light with the energy converted by the energy converting means.
As it has the light-emitting means for emitting light with the energy converted by the energy converting means, it can determine the type of the ink by allowing the light emitted from the solid semiconductor element to transmit through the ink and detecting strength in the wavelength of the transmitted light.